Crossword Puzzles

News about Crossword Puzzles, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

May. 23, 2015

Many sports figures with short last names, who might otherwise have been forgotten to history, are mainly known as common crossword puzzle answers. MORE

Sep. 21, 2014

Chuck Klosterman The Ethicist column answers questions about paying for work done by amateur artist, ripping out crosswords from coffee shop's newspapers and bidding on television show The Price is Right. MORE

Jul. 12, 2012

Kit Eaton App Smart column highlights crossword puzzle apps that let users download puzzles from all over the world, correct mistakes without using an eraser and check their answers. MORE

Jun. 3, 2012

The Ethicist column by Philip Levine, the poet laureate of the United States, answers questions about affairs, seatmates on airplanes, gambling, and tearing out crosswords from magazines provided to customers by businesses. MORE

May. 12, 2012

Neptali Segovia, a veteran crossword writer, is accused of hiding a coded message urging the death of Venezuelan Pres Hugo Chavez’s brother, who is governor of Barinas State; Segovia dismisses allegations. MORE

Mar. 17, 2012

Doctor Fill, computer program designed by Prof Matthew Ginsberg, will compete against 600 human beings in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn; program has excelled in simulations of previous tournaments, but observers contend that human beings may still have an advantage when it comes to humorous or creative puzzle answers, which sometimes fall outside the reach of the program's analytic strategies. MORE

Mar. 31, 2011

San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson, who has an interest in crossword puzzles, fulfills a dream by appearing as an answer in a New York Times crossword. MORE

Free Puzzles

Will Shortz says: Here's proof that a crossword doesn't have to be hard to be exceptional. Besides the four basic theme answers in the longest spaces in the grid, look for four "bonus" theme-related entries in shorter spots.

Will Shortz says: This puzzle's clever theme is signaled by the highlighted letters in the middle of the grid. For the constructor to get all these multi-checked letters to work could not have been easy.

Will Shortz says: The secret of this puzzle's theme is revealed at 62- and 16-Across. The theme itself appears in the six longest Across answers. That's a lot of theme material, with a crackerjack construction besides.

Will Shortz says: David Kahn never makes an ordinary puzzle, but this one is truly exceptional. Every theme answer (four horizontal and two vertical) interlocks with at least one other, and the answer at 7-Down gives a playful explanation of what these six have in common.

Will Shortz says: This themeless 68-word puzzle contains ten 15-letter answers spanning the grid, with 8-Down intersecting the nine going across. As typical with Bob Klahn, he spices up the puzzle with lively vocabulary, and the grid doesn't have a single unnecessary black square.